常時英心:言葉の森から 1.0

約10年間,はてなダイアリーで英語表現の落穂拾いを行ってきました。現在はAmeba Blogに2.0を開設し,継続中です。こちらはしばらくアーカイブとして維持します。

ambiguous 復習

Gov't eyes certification system for foreign assistance dogs toward Tokyo 2020

TOKYO -- A request to establish a certification system for assistance dogs accompanying foreign nationals so they can be used in public transport, stadiums and other facilities in the same fashion as their Japanese counterparts, was recently submitted to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

中略

The standards vary, with some countries recognizing "therapy dogs" used in psychiatric and other care and other types of dogs not used for physical disabilities as assistance dogs, or are ambiguous as to where the line between pet and assistance dog is drawn.

以下省略


https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180529/p2a/00m/0na/029000c


ambiguous/æmbígjuəs/を取り上げます。LDOCEによると“something that is ambiguous is unclear, confusing, or not certain, especially because it can be understood in more than one way”と載っており、代わりに“You can take something two ways”と言える、と加えられてしました。

続いてODEで語源を調べてみると、“early 16th cent. (in the sense ‘indiatinct, obscure’): from Latin ambiguus ‘doubtful’ (from ambigere ‘waver, go around’, from ambi- ‘both ways’ + agere ‘to drive’) + -ous.”と定義されていました。
以上のことから記事では、海外ではペットと補助犬の線引きが曖昧であるといった意味になるかと思われます。(Otoyo)